The History of Woman Suffrage Volume III Part 111

[490] Consisting of Dr. R. G. Buckingham, chairman, Hon. John Evans, Judge G. W. Miller, Benjamin D. Spencer, A. J. Williams, Captain Richard Sopris, E. B. s.l.u.th, John Armor, Hon. E. L.

Campbell, John Walker, J. U. Marlow, Col. W. H. Bright, John G.

Lilly, John S. McCool, J. W. Nesmyth, Henry O. Wagoner, and Dr.

Martimore.

CHAPTER LII.

WYOMING.

The Dawn of the New Day, December, 1869--The Goal Reached in England and America--Territory Organized, May, 1869--Legislative Action--Bill for Woman Suffrage--William H. Bright--Gov. Campbell Signs the Bill--Appoints Esther Morris, Justice of the Peace, March, 1870--Women on the Jury, Chief-Justice Howe, Presiding--J.

W. Kingman, a.s.sociate-Justice, Addresses the Jury--Women Promptly take their Places--Sunday Laws Enforced--Comments of the Press--Judge Howe's Letter--Laramie _Sentinel_--J. H.

Heyford--Women Voting, 1870--Grandma Swain the First to Cast her Ballot--Effort to Repeal the Law, 1871--Gov. Campbell's Veto--Mr.

Corlett--Rapid Growth of Public Opinion in Favor of Woman Suffrage.

After recording such a long succession of disappointments and humiliations for women in all the States in their worthy endeavors for higher education, for profitable employment in the trades and professions and for equal social, civil and political rights, it is with renewed self-respect and a stronger hope of better days to come that we turn to the magnificent territory of Wyoming, where the foundations of the first true republic were laid deep and strong in equal rights to all, and where for the first time in the history of the race woman has been recognized as a sovereign in her own right--an independent, responsible being--endowed with the capacity for self-government. This great event in the history of human progress transpired in 1869.

Neither the point nor the period for this experiment could have been more fitly chosen. Midway across this vast western continent, on the highest plane of land, rising from three to eight thousand feet above the level of the sea, where gigantic mountain-peaks shooting still higher seem to touch the clouds, while at their feet flow the great rivers that traverse the State in all directions, emptying themselves after weary wanderings into the Pacific ocean at last; such was the grand point where woman was first crowned with the rights of citizenship. And the period was equally marked.

To reach the goal of self-government the women of England and America seemed to be vieing with each other in the race, now one holding the advance position, now the other. And in many respects their struggles and failures were similar. When seeking the advantages of collegiate education, the women of England were compelled to go to France, Austria and Switzerland for the opportunities they could not enjoy in their own country. The women of our Eastern States followed their example, or went to Western inst.i.tutions for such privileges, granted by Oberlin and Antioch in Ohio, Ann Arbor in Michigan, Washington University in Missouri, and refused in all the colleges of the East. For long years, alike they endured ridicule and bitter persecution to secure a foothold in their universities at home.

Our battles in Parliament and in the Congress of the United States were simultaneous. While nine senators,[491] staunch and true, voted in favor of woman suffrage in 1866, and women were rolling up their pet.i.tions for a const.i.tutional amendment in '68 and '69, with Samuel C. Pomeroy in the Senate and George W. Julian in the House, the women of England, keeping step and time, found their champions in the House of Commons in John Stuart Mill and Jacob Bright in 1867-69, and no sooner were their mammoth pet.i.tions presented in parliament than ours were rolled into the halls of congress. At last we reached the goal, the women of England in 1869 and those of Wyoming in 1870. But what the former gained in time the latter far surpa.s.sed in privilege. While to the English woman only a limited suffrage was accorded, in the vast territory of Wyoming, larger than all Great Britain, all the rights of citizenship were fully and freely conferred by one act of the legislature--the right to vote at all elections on all questions and to hold any office in the gift of the people.

The successive steps by which this was accomplished are given us by Hon. J. W. Kingman, a.s.sociate-justice in the territory for several years:

It is now sixteen years since the act was pa.s.sed giving women the right to vote at all elections in this territory, including all the rights of an elector, with the right to hold office. The language of the statute is broad, and beyond the reach of evasion. It is as follows:

That every woman of the age of twenty-one years, residing in the territory, may, at every election to be holden under the laws thereof, cast her vote; and her rights to the elective franchise, and to hold office, shall be the same, under the election laws of the territory, as those of the electors.

There was no half-way work about it, no quibbling, no grudgingly parting with political power, no fear of consequences, but a manly acknowledgment of equal rights and equal privileges, among all the citizens of the new territory. Nor was this the only act of that first legislature on the subject of equal rights. They pa.s.sed the following:

AN ACT _to protect married women in their separate property, and the enjoyment of their labor._

SECTION 1. That all the property, both real and personal, belonging to any married woman as her sole and separate property, or which any woman hereafter married, owns at the time of her marriage, or which any married woman during coverture acquires in good faith from any person other than her husband, by descent or otherwise, together with all the rents, issues, increase and profits thereof, shall, notwithstanding her marriage, be and remain during coverture, her sole and separate property, under her sole control, and be held, owned, possessed and enjoyed by her, the same as though she were sole and unmarried, and shall not be subject to the disposal, control or interference of her husband, and shall be exempt from execution or attachment for the debts of her husband.

SEC. 2. Any married woman may bargain, sell, and convey, her personal property, and enter into any contract in reference to the same, as if she were _sole_.

SEC. 3. Any woman may, while married, sue and be sued in all matters having relation to her property, person or reputation, in the same manner as if she were _sole_.

SEC. 4. Any married woman may, while married, make a will the same as though she were _sole_.

SEC. 5. Any married woman may carry on any trade or business, and perform any labor or service on her sole and separate account, and the earnings of any married woman from her trade, business, labor or services, shall be her sole and separate property, and may be used and invested by her in her own name; and she may sue and be sued, as if _sole_, in regard to her trade, business, labor, services, and earnings. * * *

SEC. 9. The separate deed of the husband shall convey no interest in the wife's lands.

Under the statute for distributions, the wife is treated exactly as the husband is; each having the same right in the estate of the other. The provisions are so unusual and peculiar, that I venture to copy some of them:

* * * * If such intestate leave a husband or wife, _and_ children, him or her surviving, one-half of such estate shall descend to such surviving husband or wife, and the residue thereof * * * * to the children; if such intestate leave a husband or wife and _no_ child, * * * * then the property shall descend as follows, to wit: three-fourths thereof to such remaining husband or wife, and one-fourth thereof to the father and mother of the intestate, or the survivor of them; provided that if the estate of such intestate, real and personal, does not exceed in volume the sum of ten thousand dollars, then the whole thereof shall descend to and rest in the surviving husband or wife as his or her absolute estate. Dower and the tenancy by the curtesy are abolished.

The school law also provides:

SEC. 9. In the employment of teachers no discrimination shall be made, in the question of pay, on account of s.e.x, when the persons are equally qualified.

Such are some of the radical enactments of the first legislature of Wyoming territory in reference to woman's rights; and to a person who has grown up under the common law and the usages of English-speaking people, they undoubtedly appear extravagant if not revolutionary, and well calculated to disturb or overthrow the very foundations of social order. Experience has not, however, justified any such apprehensions. The people of Wyoming have prospered under these laws, and are growing to like them better and better, and adapt themselves more and more to their provisions. The object of this sketch is to trace the progress and development of this new legislation, and gather up some of its consequences as they have been observed in our social and political relations.

The territory of Wyoming was first organized in May, 1869. The Union Pacific railroad was completed on the 9th of the month, and the transcontinental route opened to the public. There were but few people in the territory at that time, except such as had been brought hither in connection with the building of that road, and while some of them were good people, well-educated, and came to stay, many were reckless, wicked and wandering. The first election was held in September, 1869, for the election of a delegate in congress, and members of the Council and House of Representatives for the first territorial legislature. There was a good deal of party feeling developed, and election day witnessed a sharp and vigorous struggle. The candidates and their friends spent money freely, and every liquor shop was thrown open to all who would drink. I was about to say that any one could imagine the consequences; but in fact I do not believe that any one could picture to himself the mad follies, and frightful scenes of that drunken election. Peaceful people did not dare to walk the streets, in some of the towns, during the latter part of the day and evening. At South Pa.s.s City, some drunken fellows with large knives and loaded revolvers swaggered around the polls, and swore that no negro should vote. One man remarked quietly that he thought the negroes had as good a right to vote as any of them had. He was immediately knocked down, jumped on, kicked and pounded without mercy, and would have been killed, had not his friends rushed into the brutal crowd and dragged him out, b.l.o.o.d.y and insensible. It was a long time before the poor fellow recovered from his injuries. There were quite a number of colored men who wanted to vote, but did not dare approach the polls until the United States Marshal placed himself at their head and with revolver in hand escorted them through the crowd, saying he would shoot the first man that interfered with them. There was much quarreling and tumult, but the negroes voted. This was only a sample of the day's doings, and characteristic of the election all over the territory. The result was that every Republican was defeated, and every Democratic candidate elected; and the whisky shops had shown themselves to be the ruling power in Wyoming.

From such an inspiration one could hardly expect a revelation of much value! Yet there were some fair men among those elected.

The legislature met October 12, 1869. Wm. H. Bright was elected president of the Council. As he was the author of the woman suffrage bill, and did more than all others to secure its pa.s.sage, some account of him may be of interest. He was a man of much energy and of good natural endowments, but entirely without school education. He said frankly, "I have never been to school a day in my life, and where I learned to read and write I do not know." His character was not above reproach, but he had an excellent, well-informed wife, and he was a kind, indulgent husband. In fact, he venerated his wife, and submitted to her judgment and influence more willingly than one could have supposed; and she was in favor of woman suffrage.[492] There were a few other men in that legislature, whose wives exercised a similar influence; but Mr. Bright found it up-hill work to get a majority for his bill, and it dragged along until near the close of the session. The character of the arguments he used, and the means he employed to win success are perhaps worthy of notice, as showing the men he had to deal with. I ought to say distinctly, that Mr. Bright was himself fully and firmly convinced of the justice and policy of his bill, and gave his whole energy and influence to secure its pa.s.sage; he secured some members by arguing to support their pet schemes in return, and some he won over by even less creditable means. He got some votes by admitting that the governor would veto the bill (and it was generally understood that he would), insisting at the same time, that it would give the Democrats an advantage in future elections by showing that they were in favor of liberal measures while the Republican governor and the Republican party were opposed to them. The favorite argument, however, and by far the most effective, was this: it would prove a great advertis.e.m.e.nt, would make a great deal of talk, and attract attention to the legislature, and the territory, more effectually than anything else. The bill was finally pa.s.sed and sent to the governor. I must add, however, that many letters were written from different parts of the territory, and particularly by the women, to members of the legislature, urging its pa.s.sage and approving its object.

On receipt of the bill, the governor was in great doubt what course to take. He was inclined to veto it, and had so expressed himself; but he did not like to take the responsibility of offending the women in the territory, or of placing the Republican party in open hostility to a measure which he saw might become of political force and importance. I remember well an interview that Chief-Justice Howe and myself had with him at that time, in which we discussed the policy of the bill, and both of us urged him to sign it with all the arguments we could command. After a protracted consultation we left him still doubtful what he would do.[493] But in the end he signed it, and drew upon himself the bitter curses of those Democrats who had voted for the bill with the expectation that he would veto it.

From this time onward, the measure became rather a Republican than a Democratic principle, and found more of its friends in the former party, and more of its enemies in the latter.

Soon after the pa.s.sage of the bill, a vacancy occurred in the office of justice of the peace, at South Pa.s.s City, the county seat of Sweet.w.a.ter county, and the home of Mr. Bright and of Mrs.

Esther Morris. At the request of the county attorney--who favored woman suffrage--the commissioners, two of whom also approved of it, appointed Mrs. Morris to fill the vacancy. The legislature had vested the appointment of officers, in case of a vacancy, in the county commissioners, but the organic act of congress, creating the territory, provided that the governor "shall commission all officers who shall be appointed under the laws of said territory." Governor Campbell being absent from the territory at the time, the secretary, acting as governor, sent Mrs. Morris her commission. It is due to Secretary Lee to say that he was an earnest advocate of woman's enfranchis.e.m.e.nt, and labored for the pa.s.sage of the bill, and gladly embraced the opportunity to confirm a woman in office. The important fact is, however, that Mrs. Morris' neighbors first suggested the appointment that secured her the office, and manfully sustained her during her whole term. She tried between thirty and forty cases, and decided them so acceptably that not one of them was appealed to a higher court; and I know of no one who has held the office of justice of the peace in this territory, who has left a more acceptable record, in all respects, than has Mrs. Esther Morris. Some other appointments of women to office were made, but I do not find that any of them entered upon its duties.

The first term of the District Court, under the statutes pa.s.sed by the first legislature, was to be held at Laramie City, on the first Monday of March, 1870. When the jurors were drawn, a large number of women were selected, for both grand and pet.i.t jurors.

As this was not done by the friends of woman suffrage, there was evidently an intention of making the whole subject odious and ridiculous, and giving it a death-blow at the outset. A great deal of feeling was excited among the people, and some effort made to prejudice the women against acting as jurors, and even threats, ridicule and abuse, in some cases, were indulged in.

Their husbands were more pestered and badgered than the women, and some of them were so much inflamed that they declared they would never live with their wives again if they served on the jury. The fact that women were drawn as jurors was telegraphed all over the country, and the newspapers came loaded with hostile and uncomplimentary criticisms. At this stage of the case Col.

Downey, the prosecuting attorney for the county, wrote to Judge Howe for advice and direction as to the eligibility of the women as jurors, and what course should be taken in the premises. At first Judge Howe was much inclined to order the women discharged, and new juries drawn; and it certainly required no small amount of moral courage to face the storm of ridicule and abuse that was blowing from all quarters. We had a long consultation, and came to the conclusion that since the law had clearly given all the rights of electors to the women of the territory, they must be protected in the exercise of these rights if they chose to a.s.sume them; that under no circ.u.mstances could the judges permit popular clamor to deprive the women of their legal rights in the very presence of the courts themselves. The result was that Judge Howe wrote the county attorney the following letter:

CHEYENNE, March 3, 1870.

S. W. DOWNEY--_My Dear Sir_: I have your favor of yesterday, and have carefully considered the question of the eligibility of women who are "citizens," to serve on juries.

Mr. Justice Kingman has also considered the question, and we concur in the opinion that such women are eligible. My reason for this opinion will be given at length, if occasion requires. I will thank you to make it known to those ladies who have been summoned on the juries, that they will be received, protected, and treated with all the respect and courtesy due, and ever paid, by true American gentlemen to true American ladies, and that the Court, in all the power of government, will secure to them all that deference, security from insult, or anything which ought to offend the most refined woman, which is accorded in any walks of life in which the good and true women of our country have heretofore been accustomed to move. Thus, whatever may have been, or may now be thought of the policy of admitting women to the right of suffrage and to hold office, they will have a fair opportunity, at least in my Court, to demonstrate their ability in this new field, and prove the policy or impolicy of occupying it. Of their right to try it I have no doubt. I hope they will succeed, and the Court will certainly aid them in all lawful and proper ways. Very respectfully,

J. H. HOWE, _Chief-Justice_.

When the time came to hold the court, Judge Howe, whose duty it was to preside, requested me to go with him to Laramie City, and sit with him during the term. I gladly availed myself of the opportunity. As soon as we arrived there, Judge Howe was waited on by a number of gentlemen who endeavored to induce him to order the discharge of the female jurors without calling them into court. Some spoke of the impolicy of the proceeding, and said the women all objected to it and wished to be excused; while some were cross, and demanded the discharge of their wives, saying that it was an intentional insult and they would not submit to it. But Judge Howe told them all firmly, that the women must come into court, and if, after the whole question was fairly explained to them, they chose to decline, they should be excused. At the opening of the court next morning, the house was crowded, and the female jurors were all there. After the usual preliminaries, an attorney arose and moved that all the women summoned as jurors be excused, saying he made the motion at the request of the women themselves; and that he was a.s.sured they did not wish to serve.

Judge Howe then requested me to express my opinion and make some remarks to the women on the duties devolving on them. I said:

It was a real pleasure to me to see ladies in the court-room, with the right to take a responsible part in the proceedings, as grand and pet.i.t jurors; that no one knew so well as they did, the evils our community suffered from lawless and wicked people; and no one better understood the difficulties the court labored under in its efforts to administer justice and punish crime; that the time had come when the good women of the territory could give us substantial aid, and we looked to them especially, as the power which should make the court efficient in the discharge of its duties; that the new law had conferred on them important rights, and corresponding duties necessarily devolved upon them; that I hoped and believed they would not shrink when so many influences were calling on them for n.o.ble and worthy action; that if they failed us now, the cause of equal rights would suffer at their hands, not only in our territory, but in every land where its advocates were struggling for its recognition; that if they would remain, their presence would secure a degree of decorum in the court-room and add a dignity to the proceedings, which the judges had been unable to command; that we required the a.s.sistance of good women all over the territory, and I begged them to help us.

Judge Howe then spoke as follows:

It is an innovation and a great novelty to see, as we do to-day, ladies summoned to serve as jurors. The extension of political rights and franchise to women is a subject that is agitating the whole country. I have never taken an active part in these discussions, but I have long seen that woman is a victim to the vices, crimes and immoralities of man, with no power to protect and defend herself from these evils. I have long felt that such powers of protection should be conferred upon woman, and it has fallen to our lot here to act as the pioneers in the movement and to test the question. The eyes of the whole world are to-day fixed upon this jury of Albany county. There is not the slightest impropriety in any lady occupying this position, and I wish to a.s.sure you that the fullest protection of the court shall be accorded to you. It would be a most shameful scandal that in our temple of justice and in our courts of law, anything should be permitted which the most sensitive lady might not hear with propriety and witness. And here let me add that it will be a sorry day for any man who shall so far forget the courtesy due and paid by every American gentleman to every American lady as to ever by word or act endeavor to deter you from the exercise of those rights with which the law has invested you. I conclude with the remark that this is a question for you to decide for yourselves. No man has any right to interfere. It seems to me to be eminently proper for women to sit upon grand juries, which will give them the best possible opportunities to aid in suppressing the dens of infamy which curse the country. I shall be glad of your a.s.sistance in the accomplishment of this object. I do not make these remarks from distrust of any of the gentlemen. On the contrary, I am exceedingly pleased and gratified with the indication of intelligence, love of law and good order, and the gentlemanly deportment which I see manifested here.

The ladies were then told that those who could not conveniently serve, and those who insisted on being excused, might rise and they should be discharged. Only one rose and she was excused. But a victory had been won of no small moment. Seeing the earnestness of the judges and the dignified character they had given to the affair, the women were encouraged and pleased, and the enemies of equal rights, who had planned, as they thought, a stunning blow to further progress, were silenced and defeated. The current set rapidly in the other direction and applause, as usual, followed success. The business of the court proceeded with marked improvement. The court-room, always crowded, was quiet and decorous in the extreme. The bar in particular was always on its good behavior, and wrangling, abuse and buncome speeches were not heard. When men moved about they walked quietly, on tip-toe, so as to make no noise, and forbore to whisper or make any demonstrations in or around the court-room. The women when called took their chairs in the jury-box with the men, as they do their seats in church,[494] and no annoyance or reluctance was visible from the bench. They gave close and intelligent attention to the details of every case, and the men who sat with them evidently acted with more conscientious care than usual. The verdicts were generally satisfactory, except to convicted criminals. They did not convict every one they tried, but "no guilty man escaped," if there was sufficient evidence to hold him. The lawyers soon found out that the usual tricks and subterfuges in criminal cases would not procure acquittal, and they began to challenge off all the women called. The court checkmated this move by directing the sheriff to summon other women in their places, instead of men, and then came motions for continuances. The result was a great success and was so acknowledged by all disinterested persons. On the grand jury were six women and nine men, and they became such a terror to evil-doers that a stampede began among them and very many left the town forever. Certainly there was never more fearless or efficient work performed by a grand jury.

The legislature copied most of the statutes which it enacted from the laws of Nebraska, and among others the following clauses in the crimes act, to wit.:

If any person shall keep open any tippling or gaming-house on the Sabbath day or night, * * * he shall be fined not exceeding one hundred dollars, or imprisoned in the county jail not exceeding six months.

Any person who shall hereafter knowingly disturb the peace and good order of society by labor on the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday (works of necessity and charity excepted), shall be fined, on conviction thereof, in any sum not exceeding fifty dollars.

No attention whatever had been paid to these statutes, and Sunday was generally the great drinking day of the whole week; the saloons sold more whiskey and made more money that day than any other. The women on that grand jury determined to put a stop to it and enforce these laws. They therefore indicted every liquor saloon in town. This made a great outcry, not only among the liquor-sellers but among their customers also. They were all arrested, brought into court and gave bail; but Judge Howe told them as this was a new law recently pa.s.sed, and as it was quite probable that most of them were ignorant of its provisions, he would continue the cases with this express understanding, that if they would strictly obey the law in future these cases should be dismissed; but if any of them violated it, these cases would be tried and the full penalty inflicted. They all agreed to this, and the "Sunday Law," as it was called, was carefully observed afterwards in Laramie City; and so great has been the change in that town in the habits of the people and the quiet appearance of the streets on Sunday, as compared with other towns in the territory, that it has been nick-named the "Puritan town" of Wyoming, and, I may add, rejoices in its singularity.

And how was this most successful experiment in equal rights received and treated by the press and the people out of the territory? The New York ill.u.s.trated papers made themselves funny with caricatures of female juries, and cheap scribblers invented all sorts of scandals and misrepresentations about them. The newspapers were overflowing with abuse and adverse criticism, and only here and there was a manly voice heard in apology or defense. I copy these extracts as a sample of the rest.